Say Cheese

Formaggio Kitchen

244 Huron Ave.

(617) 354-4750

Ihsan Gurdal moves in a circle of the powerful and famous, at least in the Boston culinary scene. His store, Formaggio Kitchen, is a legend in the business, offering more than 300 varieties of handmade artisanal cheeses. Formaggio supplies restaurant kitchens throughout Boston, from the Blue Room to the Ritz. Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz is among the numerous Harvard professors who regularly stop in. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer often pulls up on his bicycle, an employee confides.

Gurdal is a devoted explorer who scours the world in his search for the finest products, and his was the first shop in North America to age its cheeses in a specially built, temperature-controlled cave. Consequently, Formaggio can fulfill nearly any gourmet craving, whether it be for pistachio oil, Bhutanese red rice or fennel pollen. Aside from the lavish cheese selection, Formaggio crams its shelves with packaged delicacies imported from across the globe, as well as cured meats, pâtés, homemade sausages, olives and fresh pastas that line the front cases. It’s a heaven of specialty foods for both the professional and amateur cook.

It would be hard to find a more helpful staff than Formaggio’s; their passion for cheese borders on overzealousness. Robert J. Aguilera stumbled into the business by chance when his former boss asked him to take over the cheese department at the now defunct Seasonal Table. After a five-month unpaid internship with guru Jesse Shwartzburg, Aguliera’s childhood hatred of dairy changed to obsession. “Now,” he says, “I’m willing to eat anything I can get my hands on.”

Employees are always willing to offer suggestions—helping customers put together a tasting plate, pairing wines, proposing new products or offering cooking tips. And samples are always generous. “I’d rather have you try the cheese before you buy it,” says Aguilera as he slides his knife into a big wheel of farmhouse cheddar.

Talking to Gurdal—a former Turkish Olympian turned Harvard volleyball coach—is an education in cheese and the cheesemaking process. His face becomes animated as he recounts his discoveries. Hillman Farm Goat Cheese is made by Carolyn Hillman, an artist, and her husband, the town fix-it-all, in a small town in western Massachusetts. “They’re wonderful,” Gurdal says. “Together, they tend to their herd of 60 goats and two pet oxen. Their raw milk tomme is aged eight months and is one of the best out there.”

Family and food is also important to many of Gurdal’s European cheese suppliers. “We carry a marmellata made by a man in Italy who planted prickly pears as a tribute to his grandmother,” he says. “They were her favorite fruit. And we found him while seeking out his family’s sheep’s milk cheese.”

As the summer eases into fall, all the great mountain cheeses will be arriving in the store. “Autumn is the absolute best time for cheese,” Gurdal says. “The fresh summer milk makes the best product.”

Those who would like to learn more can stop into the store and chat with the staff or, for $35 per person, take a cheese class on alternate Sundays from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. At the classes, a selection of cheeses revolving around a theme is paired with complementary wines and foods, and leftovers can be taken home.